


An Entire Life I've Yet To Live With You.

by PerpetuallyGold



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: (I'm picking and chosing my bits of canon and mixing it in there), (which means I tossed the batman scene), Angst, Blood and Injury, M/M, babs is there for a bit, boostle, injustice verse, kinda implied happy ending?, the blood/injury is vague and straight out of the comic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-07 00:48:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13423182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerpetuallyGold/pseuds/PerpetuallyGold
Summary: A fic filling in the blanks of Ted and Boosters story in Injustice 2.





	An Entire Life I've Yet To Live With You.

In all honesty, he thought it would be old age or his heart condition that would take him out someday.

\---

It had been a long day of training with Jaime. The kid has been excelling in everything Ted threw at him, even to the extent of turning a few of the simulation bots to dust.

As Jaime landed his appearance morphed from the Blue Beetle this decade has come to know to his regular civilian self in the blink of an eye. He was wearing a green T-shirt and khaki pants, not a single hair out of place, as if he hadn’t just been flying around and blasting simulation bots 2 seconds ago. He had a tired yet confident grin on his face, coming down from the adrenaline high of a day of intense training.

He approached Ted, who stood with his hands on his waist still wearing his business attire, minus his suit jacket.

“You were supposed to take out this one without destroying it.”

“I know. I’m Sorry. I’ll pay you back.” Jaime shot back with a carefree wave of his hand.

“Skeets? How much was that battle bug worth?” Ted asked calling out to the robot.

Skeets had been a long term resident of Kord Industries since Booster started visiting less and less a few years after the league disassembled. The robot was an unexpected parting gift, Booster telling the AI to watch over Ted the first time he left. And Skeets, as loyal as ever, did just that. Though Booster has stopped by sporadically over the years since, he has never once taken Skeets with him when he left.

“Three hundred and forty-five thousand dollars” the golden AI replied matter-of-factly.

Jaime stared, mouth agape, dumbstruck by the debt he just suddenly found himself in. Surely Ted wasn’t serious. But there he stood staring at Jaime expectantly. The teenage quickly slid his hands into the pockets of his khakis. Praying a winning lottery ticket would magically be in there.

Digging through his pockets Jaime counted the money he could find.

“I have… two dollars and--?”

“I’ll take it.” Ted replied before Jaime could finish counting out the coins he’d gathered. 

“…really?” Jaime looked up from his interrupted counting to gawk at Ted, “You want my _two_ dollars?”

“You think I became a billionaire by saying no to free money?” Ted chuckled extending his hand to collect the change before turning to a more serious note, “Go home and get some rest, Jaime. Come back tomorrow more focused.”

“Okay. But I’ll empty my wallet first.” Jaime retorted with a huff, walking away 2 dollars and some odd cents lighter.

Before Jaime could leave Ted called out, “Hey, Jaime!”

“What?” Stopping with his hand on the door, Jaime turned his head to face Ted.

“You’re gonna be a whole lot better than I was.” Ted stated without any doubt before he turned to Skeets, talking quieter so only the AI could hear him, “Skeets go with him would you? The kid seems rather rattled. Make sure he gets home safe, yeah?”

“Yes, this is how it happens.” Is the vague and unsettling reply Skeets gives him.

“Huh?” Ted whips his head around to follow Skeets as the robot races off in a golden blur to catch up with Jaime.

“Never mind, it’s an honor serving you, sir.”

“Sure… and it will still be an honor tomorrow.” Ted says, pointing an accusing finger at the robot. “Off you go Skeets.”

“Good-bye, Ted Kord.”

As he watched them both go, Ted couldn’t help but wonder what this would be like if Booster had never started his secret missions to the future.

‘ _Like a family…_ ’ he caught himself thinking. Shaking his head and gathering his things, Ted took one last look at the mess remaining. ‘ _That’s an issue for tomorrow's me_ ’ he shrugged, turning off the lights.

Ted locked the room behind himself and made his way back to his apartment.

\---

Opening the door to his apartment, he was welcomed with dead silence, the clank of the keys and coins from his pocket hitting the counter accompanied by the light taps of his shoes on hardwood were all that broke the vow of silence his apartment had made since Booster stopped coming by on a regular basis.

These walls and floors have seen nothing but Ted for the past few months. Though traces of the blond still linger. A lone left sock that somehow made its new home under the couch, a Booster Gold™ mug that has faded with use, even the blondes favorite books were left piled on the windowsill in the living area.

Ted couldn’t bring himself to get rid of them or store them somewhere out of sight. ‘ _Leave it in case he comes back for them_ ’ he told himself every time they caught his eye in his day to day life. Though Booster rarely had enough time to even think about those things when he managed to stop by, filling however much time he could with just Ted before vanishing for another unknown amount of time.

Nearly every inch of his apartment was littered with memories of Booster. The well-loved couch were they’ve spent most of their time falling asleep together after late nights and takeout, the dent in the wall near the entrance where Booster had let out his frustration in a knuckle bloodying punch, the dragon's hoard of tea that Booster kept stocked in Teds cabinets, and the pieces of the mug Ted had dropped when Booster brought up marrying Gladys that now scattered the edge of a countertop. Ted vowed he’s fix the cup saying it was his favorite, but never got around to it.

Good and not-so-good memories followed Ted around the moment he was home. But he refused to think of any of them as bad memories.

\---

The clock read 6:45. The sun was inching closer to ending the day and Ted was inching closer to the bottle of alcohol he hid from no one under his kitchen sink. He’d long since given up the whole ‘not drinking for my health’ thing. Deciding most days he doesn’t care too much. With the world the way it was, something was bound to get to him before his heart would.   

Sitting at the ancient wooden desk in his study, Ted was left with nothing but whiskey and his pestering thoughts. Going back and forth between ‘ _what have I done with my life_ ’ and ‘ _what should I have done with my life_ ’.

Ted honestly didn’t expect these questions to show up in the forefront of his mind until his late 60s at best. All the while secretly hoping that, after getting to know a hospital room so well over the years, he would be long gone before he’d have to have this conversation with himself.

But since he was recently lacking a boisterous blond, sitting alone in his distressingly quiet apartment… thinking was all Ted had.

Rolling his eyes Ted cracked his neck and stretched out his arms, assuming he was going to be here for a while contemplating that second question when he got to it. He’d already been creating a list a mile long over the years.

“Guess we’re doing this while I’m in my 40s” he huffed out loud to no one but the walls around him, taking a gulp of warm whiskey.

“I am- was the Blue Beetle,” he started to list, reasoning with himself “I’ve saved lives, I’ve created hundreds of life changing gadgets, I was in the League, I’ve carried on a successful business, I’m helping Jaime, I-“

Teds rambling came to a sudden halt as he let out a heavy sigh, hunching further over his old wooden desk. He stopped his soon to be long winded list about his accomplishments, he knew that even if ‘creating world peace’ could be listed there it wouldn’t be anything compared to what was on the top of the list of what he wish he had done.

His mind wonders to late nights on the couch with Booster, how easy it would have been to just lean over and-

Trying to push that thought from his mind, Ted stared blankly at the crowded mess his desk somehow managed to hold up. His eyes, wondering past the stack of papers that needed his signature, the computer monitor that has long gone into sleep mode, knickknacks he’s collected overtime, and what felt like hundreds of untouched blueprints. His mind registering nothing, eyes seemingly blurred, until they fell upon a set of old picture frames on the corner of the desk, three of them, seemingly untouched. Each so close to the edge he wasn’t sure how they haven’t been bested by the junk he’s thrown haphazardly onto his desk over the years.

He remembers the two in the back, one of himself and Dan Garret and the other a well loved photo of his mother mid gymnastic routine. Each covered in their own share of dust.

Reaching out Ted slowly ran his thumb over the glass of the one closest to him, taking a bit of the dust that layered the photo with it, revealing a picture he almost forgot was there.

Ted stared at what he had partially uncovered. As if the optimistic, youthful face from ages ago smiling up at him held all the secrets of the world. As if it could tell him how to fix things.

It was Booster. A very young, bright Booster.

It always came back to Booster. 

Ted could hear the jubilant laughter the blond would let out after a scheme gone horribly wrong echoing in the back of his mind. He could feel the soft touches and hugs he once shared with the man like phantom sensations, causing his chest to feel too tight and his eyes too moist.

After briefly rubbing the moisture from his eyes and taking a shallow breath he reached a bit further and pulled the frame to himself. He lightly rubbed his sleeve over the glass and smiled bitter sweetly as his slow dusting exposed what the rest of the photo held.

It was the League. The Super Buddies.

Looking up at him with bright young faces were Tora, Bea, Max, J’onn, Barda and Scott, Guy, Bruce, Booster, and Himself. They were all there in ridiculously outdated superhero fashion. So young and full of hope (well except for Bruce).

Although they all stood in similar poses with smiles on their faces, somehow Booster stood out from the rest. ‘ _And it’s not just because of that ridiculous suit’_ Ted thought to himself with a snort, admiring the old suit his friend had long retired. It’s ridiculously long collar and shiny bright blue color that he’d long gotten rid of.

 Boosters smile was just a little bit wider and his eyes a tad brighter as he stood there on a mountain of hope. ‘ _He’d been so new to our time and way of life. It was a place that wasn’t kind to him, but I’ve never seen anyone more willing to protect it._ ’

They were all willing to jump into spandex and do what they could to protect the world. Foolishly so, but Ted would give anything to go back to those simpler times.

Rubbing his eyes, Ted took another sip of his drink.

He often finds himself daydreaming about what he would have done differently back when his suit fit him properly, when his daily routine consisted of more banter, and when he hadn’t a care in the world. Back when Booster was a constant in his everyday life.

Ted wishes he could go back and hold Boosters hand when he wasn’t in a coma, lean over and kiss his cheek when he did something as simple but sweet as stopping by unannounced with takeout, or just simply look him in the eyes and tell him how he felt.

How sometimes his heart hurt it and it was caused purely by Boosters presence. That all of the teasing they got from the League was based on truth, because he did have feelings for him.

It’s something he finds himself thinking about a lot when left alone. 

And alone could describe the majority of his life now. Besides Jaime, whom he enjoyed the company of but saw mainly for training purposes, there wasn’t much going on in Ted’s life as of recently.

Booster was busy now a days, though Ted didn’t know what with. He just knew that with each fleeting visit Booster looked increasingly exhausted.

What he wouldn’t give to be able to go back and change something, anything so that Booster would still be the background noise in his apartment, leaning over Teds chair to see what new invention he was toying with, or taking up the entirety of Teds vision with his golden hair and ‘brilliant’ ideas. So that the Booster he saw now didn’t look like he just walked out of a car crash.

Dragging a hand through his unruly, auburn hair, Ted tried picking back up his mental check list of what he wish he had done.

“I should have...” he mumbles, even now he can’t quite find the strength to get out those few words. The one line he always regrets not saying aloud to his best friend.

Sighing Ted sets his drink down, the few sips he’s taken not being nearly enough to even make him feel buzzed.

\---

The clock flashes 7:00 in blocky red letters when Ted gets up from his desk.

Trying his hardest to make it look like he hadn’t been seconds from crying, Ted goes about fixing his hair in the mirror and splashing his face with cold water. Not sure if he’ll ever get up the nerve to do something like this again, Ted tried to make himself look presentable.

He doesn’t have the power to go back and change the past, he knows that. But he has the power to change the future.

Quickly scribbling down calculations and making a late night phone call to the bank, who probably thought he had finally lost his mind after he let something about the 25th century slip.

“Yes, I’m sure. Thank you.” He huffed out over the phone.

In a frantic rush, Ted started to set his plan in motion.

Running to his room, sliding to a stop, and dropping to his knees he searched under the bed for what he knew was a home to dust bunnies by now. With a deep breath he pulls a box out from under his bed, swatting away the stay socks and paper that clutters around it, and hurries to pull the lid off.

It only seems fitting to be wearing this.

\---

Donning the Blue Beetle suit he has long since grown too big for, no longer feeling right to wear without a contrasting gold figure next to him, Ted records a message for Booster. A message he hopes will somehow find its way to him when the time comes.

He opens with a joke, as he often does. Saying he hopes he just recorded this message now because he’s ‘so young and good looking’.

He tells Booster everything he can. He tells him the truth. He tells him that he’s made arrangements to pay for the suit he stole, he tells him how he never married, how he wants to leave his company to Booster, how he wants to give everything to Booster.

And he has Skeets take a photo to lighten the mood.

He doesn’t know if it’s his place to ask but he does anyways. He asks Booster to watch over Jaime, the young hero who can be so much more than either of them ever were, because even now there is no one he trusts more in his life than Booster.

Finger hovering over the stop button he decides, without allowing himself to think about it too much, to cross off the very first point on that list of what he wishes he had done in his life.

He tells Booster he loves him.

With a smile and an aching heart he hits the button to stop recording.

\---

Suddenly feeling like his suit was too tight. Ted stripped out of his attire and went in search of something comfier. Passing over an old shirt Booster had left, blue and well worn, in his closet. Ted settled on some sweatpants and a blue, white, and brown vertically striped sweater.

“I’m sure the league would have loved this one” Ted thought out loud, rolling his eyes at the memories of when Bea and Booster would talk to him about his ‘fashion’ choices.

Knocking back the rest of the whiskey in his glass, he packaged up the recording (formatted for Skeets) and steps out of his apartment for a second to put it in his mailbox before he backs out. Addressing it to his lawyer and labeled as his official will with instructions on who to get it to when the time comes.

\---

Reentering his apartment and kicking off the slippers he carelessly shoved his feet into before walking outside, Ted glanced at the clock. It read 7:45.

‘ _It has been a torturously long day…_ ’

He’s walking back into his kitchen, grabbing his empty glass, and heading towards the partially full bottle on the counter when out of the corner of his eye he catches a glimpse of a bright blue flash.

He’s fully willing to shrug it off as nothing until he feels a hand on his shoulder as he reaches to refill his class.

“Hey, Teddy.” Came the familiar voice that had been haunting his thoughts for the past 4 lonely months.

“Booster?” Teds voice sounded unsure as he turned around, face tinted red, trying his hardest to act like he hadn’t just told Booster he loved him in a recorded he made moments ago.

“I’m having a drink you want one?” Ted offered

Booster looked at the alcohol, having a mental battle between telling Ted he shouldn’t be drinking that because of his heart and downing the entire bottle himself. In the end he let out a heavy sigh and settled on just accepting the glass offered to him, “I’ve already had a few. But… sure.”

Since Booster had started to disappear to work on… well Ted had no idea what he was working on. But since Booster had started working on whatever it is he’s been doing these past couple years, his visits to Ted have become extremely spaced out and unpredictable.

And lately it hasn’t even been ‘his’ booster that has been visiting. Ted could tell, this Booster looked older, closer to Teds own age. He looked tired and run dry, overworked.

Ted wanted to help. Wanted to know where his Booster went, what happened to this one, what they were all doing that was too important to tell Ted. But Ted had long given up that battle, preferring to spend the few short days or even hours he had with whichever Booster decided to drop by.

Handing Booster a glass he asks, “So what brings you from the future?”

That single question is all it took for Booster to look crushed, as if for a split second he had forgotten what he was doing, blissfully unaware for a split second, thinking he was just having some drinks with his best friend again.

With a shaky breath, Booster swallowed around the lump in his throat, determined to get the words out without breaking, “Um… I just wanted to…” He looks up as if his eyes are threatening tears then looks Ted in the eyes, “I just wanted to say I’ll be there. At the end.”

Those words were enough to make Teds heart stop.

“At the end of…?” He searched Boosters eyes for any trace of a lie but all he saw was tired resignation. “…oh.” The word escaped Ted’s mouth almost too quiet for either of them to hear.

Heart pounding, nausea quickly overpowered any other feeling Ted might have had. Leaning over the counter, he rested his forehead in his hands, taking shaky breathes, “Now I understand why Skeets was…”

“They’re coming. I’m sorry, Ted.” Booster sounded like he’d said these words a thousand times but instead of getting easier they only gotten harder to get out.

“Any advice?”

“Put your suit on, make a few of them regret it.” Booster replied with a sad grin.

\---

Ted rolled his eyes, already having this darn thing on earlier in the night, and mourns the loss of his comfortable outfit. Briefly he thinks about facing death head on in sweats and ugly sweater. But he resigns himself to wiggling his way back into the spandex, he looked at himself in the mirror and decided for the first time in a long time it felt right for him to be back in the blue bug attire.

After his time in the League it only ever felt right to wear the blue when he had gold beside him.

“I’m not sure this fits so well anymore.” Ted trying to spark some banter to ease the mood, stretching out his shaky arms to try and take in what he would look like, for probably the last time, in this suit.

“It never fit well.” Booster shot back, sounding every bit like he was lying.

“You didn’t say anything before.”

“I had a long list of things to ridicule you for. It was low priority.”

And suddenly Ted is thinking back to the days in the League, when they were the Blue and Gold. When Booster would tease him about his taste in clothes, how long he spent in his lab, and how he thought he was ‘so mature’.

And then the present caught up to him again, “You’re not allowed to help?”

“No. I can’t change the past. I’ve tried to stop this so many times, Ted.” Booster took a deep breath to calm himself, “That’s why I’ve been gone so much these past couple years. I took a short trip to the future for… well it’s not important. When I did I found out how you-” Booster looked away, “…yaknow. I’ve been trying everything I can to save you. I’m sure you’ve noticed, I’m at least a couple years older than your current Booster.”

“I can tell by the hairline.” Ted teased halfheartedly, getting a small chuckle out of Booster.

“Ted, Rip keeps telling me that this is so much bigger than you and me. That some moments in time just have to play out. But it hurts so much knowing that I can’t save you”  

Breaking off in a soft sob, Booster reaches for Ted and pulls him into a tight embrace. Burying his head where Ted’s neck meets his shoulder, he holds him as tight as he possibly can, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay…” Ted replies, voice hoarse.

“No it’s not. I had years to mock you for your costume.” He attempts to banter but it falls short when he mumbles out, “I feel like I let you down.”

“I’ll be there. At the end.” Booster promises as he holds Ted tighter. Leaning up, he presses a firm kiss to Ted’s forehead, keeping his lips there all the while he begins to slowly vanish, traveling back to whatever time he belongs to.

Leaving Ted standing in his suit waiting for the inevitable. There was nothing but empty space in front of him now as he dropped his arms, but he could still feel the press of lips to his forehead like a phantom sensation.

\---

When the time came he put up a fight that he hoped would make Booster proud.

He sat in his own blood, staring ahead at a lone camera lense again for the second time in a few short hours. Thinking of Booster he mumbles a soft “I love you” around a mouthful of blood, managing a small smile knowing this must mean he’ll be seeing his friend again soon.

Dazing in and out of consciousness from the loss of blood, Ted figured he could rest his eyes for just a second.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw nothing but Booster. Booster’s bright blonde hair, watery blue eyes, and his sad smile. It was a huge contrast to the Booster he had stared at in the photo on his desk just hours ago. And for a split second he wonders if he heard what Ted had just said.

He wanted to reach out, to touch, but when he looked down confused he saw the hand he was reaching with wasn’t there. Though like most things in life lately, it felt like it was.

Booster held Ted’s other hand in his, “Hey, Teddy.”

“B…. Booster. Mmmm… cold.”

Booster used his free hand to remove his goggles and headgear, looking down with tear blurred vision at their hands, moving them to entwine their fingers.

“I’m sorry, Ted. I tried to tear time apart for you, but…”

“Jaime… look after him. Train him.” Ted got out between labored breathes, suddenly remembering the recording he made. Unsure if it will make it to Booster before Jaime shows up to an empty training room tomorrow.

“I’m not really the mentoring type-“ Booster started, looking at Ted fondly. Just like Ted to use his final breaths to try and better a life or two.

“Please, you’ll need to…” Ted pauses mid-sentence to cough up blood, “help each other.”

“Man you can’t just… who am I gonna laugh at now?”

“Just… look in the mirror.” Was Ted’s final choked out response with a weak faded laugh before it all came to a stop.

Booster laughed with him, wholeheartedly until he saw what he’d seen a thousand times now after trying to save Ted from this very fate.

Getting one last look at Ted’s face, Booster pushed his hair off his forehead, leaned forwards and placed a soft kiss in the same spot he had hours before.

“Good-bye, Teddy.” He said one last time before picking him up and taking his body with him.

\---

The sky that afternoon was bright, painted with blues and yellows, there was the slightest telltale sign of a fire in the distance. The chaos of the world wouldn’t stop for one man’s funeral, but Booster would ignore it all for one day.

He didn’t think many would show for Ted’s funeral. He invited Jaime, Barbra, and the few remaining members of the Birds of Prey as well as those who remained of what used to be the Super Buddies. A short list. They've already lost countless friends to the wrath of this world.

Booster was hunched over Ted’s grave, watering the fresh soil beneath him with tears. The handful of people who had shown to briefly pay respects left well over an hour ago. Booster just didn't have it in himself to get up.

Babs reached out to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder. Taking a deep breath Booster removed the force field from his suit and placed it on Ted’s grave, ensuring its protection for as long as this planet remained.

“Thank you.” Booster said hollowly to Babs without further context. He couldn’t bring himself to look away from the headstone. All he could do was reread the familiar name he had spoken hundreds of times before:

Ted Kord

Clutched in his hand was a chip given to him by a man named Justin Baines. On which was a holographic recording of the person he longed to see most. In which he was smiling and alive. He was telling Booster that his suit was lawfully his, that he was now a billionaire, that everything was now Boosters, and that Ted had loved him.

Suddenly with an aching heart Booster found himself thinking of all the things he wishes he had done differently.

And all of a sudden there was an entire life he has yet to live with Ted.

**Author's Note:**

> A short glimpse of the funeral Ted should've gotten in the comics.  
> Implied that Booster goes back to make up for lost time to do what they were too dumb to do the first time around.  
> Going back in time to see Ted in those months he was gone while also working with Jaime in the present.
> 
> *This is my first fic and it's kinda poorly written but I hope you enjoyed it anyways!


End file.
